"There's ructions coming out of Shanghai where they're looking to tighten regulations in the banking sector and that's largely weighed on our market, affecting the resources and materials sectors more than anything," Mr Le Brun said.

Investment themes changed mid-session as people searched for higher yielding stocks, including banks.

Trading volumes were low as Australians prepared for the Easter long weekend.

The mining giants suffered some of the heaviest falls, with BHP Billiton down 43 cents to $32.76, Rio Tinto fell 62 cents to $57.20 and Fortescue fell four cents to $3.94.

Newcrest shares fell 8.3 per cent, or $1.82, to $20.05 after the gold miner cut its production targets by about 10 per cent due to ongoing challenges at its Lihir mine in PNG.

ANZ dropped five cents to $28.53, Westpac fell two cents to $30.76, Commonwealth Bank tumbled 37 cents to $68.01 and National Australia Bank lost 11 cents to $30.84.

Woolworths fell 36 cents to $33.79.

Nufarm plunged 82 cents to $3.95, the day after the agricultural chemicals supplier booked a 53 per cent fall in profit and slashed its outlook.

Leighton shares dropped eight cents to $20.54 after it sold a majority stake in three telco businesses to a Canadian pension fund for about $619.5 million.

KEY FACTS

At the close on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 28.5 points, or 0.57 per cent, lower at 4,966.5.

The broader All Ordinaries index was 27.1 points, or 0.54 per cent, down at 4,979.9.